Descendants of slaves hold out against company's attempt to mine East Texas land for coal

Now, just weeks from her 102nd birthday, Finley faces the prospect of losing the land worked by her husband and his parents, slaves who toiled for a master.For three years, Luminant Mining Co. has tried to purchase this 9.1-acre plot, which is currently owned by a bevy of relatives spread across the country. The company owns more than 75 percent of the parcel but can't mine it because of a complex inheritance arrangement and the refusal of some family members to let go or accept Luminant's offer.

Click to expand...

In this Tuesday, July 30, 2013 photo, Ida Finley, 101, left, wipes tears telling her family history as her granddaughter Jacquelin Finley looks on during

DIRGIN, Texas (AP) -- Ida Finley smiles wistfully, recalling how she used to cook for an entire East Texas community — nearly all descendants of slaves. The children would grab cornbread, greens and cookies from her kitchen while their parents grew vegetables in a tiny creekside village hidden among pine forests."It's been so long," she muses, gazing at old photos that dot the walls of her nursing home room some 30 miles from Dirgin.